Archos’s bad-ass PMPs are constantly evolving towards the ultimate do-it-all gadget. The 605 WiFi actually comes close — all it needs is a phone, GPS, and espresso maker. Over-the-air downloads, Web surfing, and AV recording are certainly tantalizing features, but you’ll have to shell out some extra dough on top of the player’s base price. Our 30GB model will run you $299.99, but there are 4GB (flash memory w/ SD card slot), 80GB, supersize 160GB versions coming soon.
The 30GB 605 is a bit slimmer than the 604 was, at 4.8 by 3.2 by 0.6 inches, and its 6.7-ounce solid-feeling metal body will help you fend off haters and the overly envious alike. (The 4-gigger is lighter, and 80 and 160GB models are slightly bigger and even deadlier weapons.)
The screen is a 4.3-inch widescreen job, and it’s sensitive to the touch of your fingers and the included stylus (too bad there’s no slot on the 605 to hold said stylus). The screen looks great under most conditions, though if you’re trying to watch a movie in a park on a sunny day, you’re gonna have to hide under a blanket. That’ll help the pretty weak built-in speaker sound better too.
You can’t replace the battery yourself, reneging on older models, but at least it lasts for roughly 5 hours of video and 17 hours of music, making it a better travel buddy than your Xanax-popping co-worker. Just be sure to bring your own headphones, since the included ones suck. You also get a carrying pouch and an adapter for the optional DVR station, plus a proprietary USB cable for connecting to PCs (in MTP or USB mode) or Mac/Linux (USB mode only).
A single eighth-inch combo jack on the left side handles headphones, video output, and S/PDIF. A bunch of buttons along to the right of the screen give you plenty of control, and Archos seems to be getting the point that what works in Europe doesn’t quite work over here, but you can control everything from the touch screen if the buttons prove too confusing.
The 605’s interface is cute, simple, and finger-friendly, but the stylus is handy for precise clicking on Web links and list items. An on-screen QWERTY keyboard helps a lot with entering URLs and emails. One very iPhone-like feature is the ability drag your finger to scroll around in Web pages and photos, but Archos wasn’t quite hip enough to do multi-touch or gestures.
Out of the box, the 605 can do MPEG-4 SP and WMV on the video front, and MP3, WMA, protected WMA, and WAV for audio. You can also look at JPG, BMP, and PNG photos and PDF files that don’t have too many special features.
Now the bad news: To surf the Web, you need a $30 browser plug-in. And if you want to record your favorite episodes of Rock of Love with Bret Michaels, you’ll have to drop $100 on the DVR docking station or $70 for the travel DVR adapter. For obscure codec support (AAC, H.264, MPEG-2, Real, and the like), you’ll have to pay $20 a pop, too. That could bring your total for the 30GB 605 to around $450, which still isn’t a terrible deal given all the geeky fun you could have with it.
Our fully loaded test unit didn’t wasn’t exactly a speed demon on the Web, and it missed wireless networks that our MacBook had no problem catching. Streaming music and movies over the UPnP protocol to the 605 WiFi from our computer worked pretty well when the wireless signal was strong, but if it dropped, our favorite episode of Chappele’s Show started to stutter. Wireless file transfers are a huge plus, but speeds also varied a lot depending on signal strength.
Archos’s Content Portal wasn’t quite ready for prime time when we checked it out, but movies and TV shows will be available from CinemaNow for $3.99 (rental) and $9.99 to $19.99 (download to own). If want all those deleted scenes or director’s commentary, though, you’re out of luck.
We were able to watch full-screen YouTube vids via the Opera-based browser, but you can also get them on the Content Portal, which makes for a tasty video-on-the-go alternative to the iPhone. Another Apple rip-off: widgets for things like weather and calendaring.
If you think you’re going to get a non-Apple phoneless iPhone for $299, think again — it’ll cost you at least $450. Still, it’s a pretty decent gadget, even if it doesn’t have a piece of fruit on it.
Wow that thing looks nice. Having to pay for a browser add-on and having nowhere to put the stylus, though, very lame.
agreed. that is a big deal breaker for me, but the touchscreen is very responsive.
What do you mean by $450 the phoneless iPhone, the 605 WiFi starts at $199 for the iPhone-like 4GB storage with SD card extension. Sure add $30 for the Browser with support for Flash video sites like Youtube, and if you absolutely need h264 and aac then $20 more, that´s it, that´s $250 for the phoneless iPhone with much better drag and drop full DVD resolution support for DivX, WMV, H264 and such codecs with support for even more codecs and up to 720p resolution through more extra plugins. And if you want to record on the cheap, then wait for retailers to stock the DVR Gen5 for probably around $60 or get the DVR Gen4 which is compatible but doesn´t come with the new special thumb-blackberry-like remote control and is now available starting at $50 on Froogle.
You keep saying that Archos ripped off Apple, you are nuts. Archos has been making these kinds of devices for a dozen years, before the first i-pod existed. The 400 series had touchscreen wireless internet twelve years ago, the Archos has the 400, 500, 600, and now the 700 series are in their fifth generation. Archos invented the mp3 player, had the first hard drive in an mp3 player, the first photo capable mp3 player, the first video mp3 player, the first wifi mp3 player, and the first touchscreen mp3 player.
They do (except cell phone) everything an i-phone and an Apple TV does and is a camcorder. It is a full handheld linux computer too, because of this you can actually install Skype or Gizmo on it and use it as a free phone.
Apple is an overpriced low quality (but pretty) player while the Archos is a real tool.
Hey, I’ve been searching to see ‘how’ to install skype onto my Archos 605. You got any links to this?
Beatlepants is 100% right. you got it.
actually unless Archos is a korean company, they did not invent the mp3 player
a company in Korea was the first to come up with a mp3
I converted movies using imtoo platinum res.800×480 but when i try to replay them in archos 605 wi-fi 160 gig it wont allow saying file too big,I hope someone has the answer because i spent weeks converting 120 movies .Also i use divx codecs HELP thanks andy
There’s a limit to the size of a single file on the Archos 605 (I think it’s like 4gb) because it uses FAT32, not NTFS (that’s Microsoft proprietary.)
i like this device cuz i got to see a lot of cocks ont he fast internet
i just got my archos yesterday and have been playing with it since. i love it so far, seriously. the only thing that does tick me off is the price for extra shell outs on the browser and plug ins but eh what can you do. i just bought the 80gb and it’s awesome; another thing that ticks me off is the video formats that are available. i have to go out and buy a video converter [or just get the plug in.. i'll probably get the plug in- much easier than buying software that's around the same price and still having the trouble of actually converting it] but i love the photo viewer, music player, .pdf reader, and the screen is ni i i i i ceeee…
has your locked up yet i hate mine all the time i get on it lock’s up on me
I was wondering, are all the accessories for the Archos Gen 4 series compatible with the Gen 5 series?
The USB port looks the same and I hear people have said they are compatible, but when I ask the people who are selling the accessories (ebay) they say it’s not compatible.
I was a little disappointed with the battery life and I wanted to get the battery extender, but I can only find ones for the Gen 4 for a reasonable price.
Would they work?
I’ve purchased a 605 30 gb and I love it. The dvr function works perfectly and makes the 605 great for long roadtrips on plane trips. I purchased the 605 30 gb and dvr station for $299.
Here’s how
http://savethatmoney.blogspot.com/2008/01/tip-of-week-archos-605-mp3-player-and.html
i bought the 605 160gb and it might sound stupid but i cant get it to turn on! can anyone help? ive done the initial charge and both led lights come on but nothing else happens, also when i turnit on whilst not on charge the led light comes on and again nothig else happens! does anyone no what im doing wrong,ive been throught the troubleshooting and manual with no luck!!! help please
I have the Archos 605 160Gb. It would not always turn on. The problem got to the point that it came to 29/30 times it would not turn on. The majority of the time the green power light came on…but nothing on the hdd red light. Sometimes I would just get a quick flash or two from the hdd light and (maybe) even get the archos boot up logo. Usually with lines going through it horizontally and then locks up. This all started at 1 month of ownership. This is when I requested my rma. It got to be impossible to deal with at 2 months. I formatted the drive through the unit in all ways possible. I backed up my 100+ gig of files to my computer, though it took me an hour just to power on the archos to do so. It did not seen to make any difference on how full the battery was or not. Now I sent the unit in next day air to archos. 49 hours after ups tracking shows they got it; their website still shows it not received. Each time I call I waste 30-40 minutes on hold to get through to anyone. They say they have it and it will take (10-15 business days) to test and fix or replace it. Excluding any shipping. This just seems absurd to me. This was a lot of money to me, its new, and now I lose the unit for a month. Should this not be their problem??? Why is it mine? Am I the only one out there that is going through this???
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can somebody tell me how long the battery lasts..im thinking of purchasing the 605
5.5 hours video playback, 17 hours audio :)
optional battery pack gives 50% extra on top of that :)
does anyone know if it’s possible to do a archos 605 to archos 605 file transfer – and if so how do you do it?
Can anyone tell me if I can load SKYPE onto the Archos 605 wifi?